Masta Ace Reflects On A Long Hot Summer & Offers This Re-Release Bonus Track (Premiere)
Tomorrow (November 10), Masta Ace’s 2004 LP, A Long Hot Summer is being re-released on CD by Below System Records. Originally released on Ace’s M3 imprint, the critically-acclaimed album followed up Disposable Arts with the Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York MC making another conceptual, story-driven LP. 9th Wonder, The Beatnuts, Edo. G, Rahzel, Jean Grae, Wordsworth, Punchline, and DJ Spinna are just some of the artists who contributed to Ace’s celebrated fifth effort.
In honor of the authorized reissue, the CD will include two previously unreleased Masta Ace songs. “GMO” (premiered below, by Ambrosia For Heads) and “Globetrotter,” which features AKD.
Speaking to AFH, Masta Ace said, “A Long Hot Summer is arguably my best album to many fans and critics.” The 25-plus-year Rap professional added, “It’s great that artists today are not interested in taking the time to put together concept albums, because it helps my albums stand out even more.”
With a new solo effort, a follow-up to 2012’s MA_DOOM: Son Of Yvonne in the works, Ace threaded the discography needle. “I will continue in that same creative tradition on my new album as well. Fans will get to experience the day me and [album character/guest] Fats Belvedere first meet.”
Although “GMO” was not recorded with the A.L.H.S. sessions, it fits nicely into the LP. Of the song, the eMC member (alongside Words’ and Strick) said, “‘GMO’ is a joint I started writing over a year ago. I got that beat from Brutal Artistry when I was in Leeds, England with eMC almost two years ago. I was just waiting for the right opportunity to finish the verse. Its a very simple 40 bar verse…just talking shit. I don’t do very many songs like that, so this is a special joint for that reason.”
What is your favorite track on A Long Hot Summer?
Purchase Masta Ace’s Long Hot Summer CD reissue on Below System Records.
Related: Masta Ace Remembers Feeling Ostracized By His Native Brooklyn…& Other Personal Stories (Audio)